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Portent
Portent is a unique Council Mission introduced in XCOM: Enemy Within. This mission carries a randomized Operation designation and takes place in a random French city. Acquisition This mission is offered during the second month if Operation Progeny is enabled via the Advanced Options when beginning a new game. It is initiated by a Council transmission received at the Situation Room: Mission Brief Mission Objectives Like other Target Extraction missions, the squad must first locate a VIP and then safely escort him back to the Skyranger. Should the target be killed the mission objective defaults to "All soldiers report to the EVAC zone", but counts the same as aborting the mission. Mission Site This mission takes place along two city blocks that were heavily damaged during the aforementioned ambush. The map contains two buildings and streets littered with overturned and destroyed vehicles, including cars, military trucks, and armored personnel carriers. The squad is deployed at one end of the map near a warehouse with large sections of its walls destroyed. The sole survivor is located at the opposite end of the map, past a damaged coffee shop, in the corner of two cars that form a 'T' shape. Enemy Types The alien forces encountered during this mission consist primarily of Sectoids and Thin Men. On Impossible difficulty, there are 8 Thin Men on the way in (in pairs), and on the way out, the following aliens drop in as the VIP advances towards the Skyranger: * 2 Thin Men * 1 Thin Man * 1 Thin Man * 1 Thin Men & 1 Sectoid * 3 Thin Men (possibly not all at once, depending on how you advance) Tactics Once the survivor is under the player's control, as he progresses towards the evacuation zone Thin Men will drop into the map and go into Overwatch mode. As the enemy drop-ins are triggered by the survivor reaching certain distances from the EVAC zone, it is encouraged to advance him slowly to reduce the number of enemies that arrive in a single turn. At some points it seems like a difference of one versus two squares "forward" can make a difference to the number of Thin Man drops. Aliens will often drop onto the rooftops; consider positioning troops up there, along the edges, before advancing the survivor, ensuring that the enemy cannot gain a height advantage, and that XCOM soldiers will have an elevation bonus when aliens spawn at street-level. There are no street-level drops on the "right hand side" of the map, as you're returning to the EVAC zone. Note that the fourth Thin Man will drop onto the roof of the large truck's cab near where the survivor is initially found. The survivor will have moved some way towards the EVAC zone by this point, so the Thin Man will be "behind" him. Positioning sufficient soldiers to get two shots, on top of the truck's trailer should ensure that this Thin Man can't take a shot. Assaults with Lightning Reflexes may be useful to scout the survivor's path and draw reaction fire, while a well-positioned Squadsight Sniper can take out distant enemies without triggering their reaction fire. Dialogue Status Updates The following status updates are received from Central Officer Bradford during the mission: Source: In-game dialogue, XCOM: Enemy Within Survivor The survivor taunts XCOM along the way to the EVAC zone: Source: In-game dialogue, XCOM: Enemy Within Mission Debriefing Rewards The Council rewards XCOM with: * 1 Scientist * 1 Engineer * Next Mission If Operation Slingshot is enabled, Friends In Low Places will be offered by the Council later this month. Deluge is the next Operation Progeny mission. It takes place after XCOM assaults the Alien Base and the aliens retaliate by assaulting XCOM headquarters. Trivia *It is implied that the survivor is actually an EXALT agent based on his choice of clothing and uncooperative attitude towards the XCOM personnel sent to extract him. This is confirmed in the Council transmission given at the beginning of Operation Deluge, the Council spokesman directly refers to the captured survivor as an "EXALT operative". **As EXALT field agents encountered later on will always commit suicide to avoid live capture, the agent either was not given the suicide directive (making his capture the likely reason for the directive) or possibly lost the toxin syringe issued to him. Category:Missions (XCOM: Enemy Unknown) Category:XCOM: Enemy Within